Skip to main content
Advertisement

Fly Shops Rally to Save the Madison River

Late fall malfunction at Hebgen Dam dropped flows by 60 percent in 15 minutes, endangering spawning brown trout and the entire river.

Fly Shops Rally to Save the Madison River

The morning of November 30, 2021, fly fishers discovered the Madison River was barely flowing. A gate at Hebgen Dam malfunctioned and reduced river flows from 648 cubic feet per second to 278 in just 15 minutes. By that afternoon and throughout the next day, hundreds of volunteers converged on the river to rescue trout, whitefish, and macro-invertebrates from dewatered side channels and other areas. (Joshua Bergan photo)

This article was originally title "Hebgen Malfunction" in the April-May 2022 issue of Fly Fisherman magazine.


I’ve often joked that rivers are the coveted corner offices of the outdoor Industry, and fly shops are the office water coolers. Just as starched-suited business people venture from their high-rise cubicles to gather around the water cooler for the relevant news of the day, wadered anglers venture from the streams to gather around the fly bins to do the same. But the chit-chat isn’t just about fishing conditions, hatches, hacks, or who’s fishing off the company dock. Many fly shops are information centers for key conservation...

Continue Reading

Recommended Articles

Advertisement

Get the Newsletter. Get it all.

Subscribe today and get the latest reviews, tips, recipes and more.

Sign Me Up